Tim Flannery

Beginning at the moment of creation with the Big Bang, Here on Earth explores the evolution of Earth from a galactic cloud of dust and gas to a planet with a metallic core and early signs of life within a billion years of being created.

In a compelling narrative, Flannery describes the formation of the Earth's crust and atmosphere, as well as the transformation of the planet's oceans from toxic brews of metals (such as iron, copper, and lead) to life-sustaining bodies covering 70 percent of the planet's surface. Life, Flannery shows, first appeared in these oceans in the form of microscopic plants and bacteria, and these metals served as catalysts for the earliest biological processes known to exist. From this starting point, Flannery tells the fascinating story of the evolution of our own species, exploring several early human species-- from the diminutive creatures (the famed hobbits) who lived in Africa around two million years ago to Homo erectus-- before turning his attention to Homo sapiens.

Drawing on Charles Darwin's and Alfred Russell Wallace's theories of evolution and Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, Here on Earth is a dazzling account of life on our planet.

When The Weather Makers was first published, the book actually forced the John Howard government in Australia to change its environmental policy. While on tour to promote awareness of global warming, Flannery met with other political and business leaders, including Al Gore, Richard Branson and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's science advisor, as well as such leading thinkers as David Suzuki. With Now or Never, a landmark essay about sustainability, Flannery reignites the conversation with new insights, warnings and solutions to the environmental dangers that confront us today. Flannery discusses in detail three potential solutions to climate change, the most urgent of the challenges we face in our pursuit of sustainability. Flannery's crisp and engaging prose presents his arresting argument with sincerity and enduring passion as he confronts the greatest threat of our time. The book also features detailed responses to Flannery's work by Richard Branson, Gwynne Dyer and others. Brilliant and terrifying, Now or Never is a panoramic look at climate change in the context of human existence, by one of the world's leading thinkers and writers on the natural world.

Rarely has there been a time when the fate of every one of the earth's inhabitants has been in peril. Such is our present age. This generation of decision makers and consumers will, one way or another, decide the future of the planet. What you see around you--and what you are living in--is a world that is being rapidly and irrevocably degraded by an invisible, odourless gas. It accumulates every time you drive your car, cook a meal or turn on a light. These are seemingly benign acts, but multiply those mundane daily actions six billionfold and the accumulation of injury to our environment becomes frighteningly clear. In this groundbreaking new book, already met with international acclaim, scientist Tim Flannery argues passionately for the need to address--now--the implications of a global change that is damaging all life on earth and threatening our very survival. This book is unimpeachable in its authority, deftly and accessibly written, and penetrating in its vision of what each of us can do to avoid catastrophe. It is a global call to arms, laying out plainly what we know and what we can do to make a difference before it's too late.